


St. Louis Elite Pro Football Camp

by Clace7



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:14:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25176724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clace7/pseuds/Clace7
Summary: The 20 of the best female soccer players are brought to St. Louis by Kim Sanchez, former Lyon head coach. They all are forced to work together for one month in a camp. What will go down? What relationships will be formed? Will they all turn out friends in the end? Find out at St. Louis Elite Pro Football Camp.
Relationships: Chloe Logarzo/Mckenzie Berryhill, Jordan Nobbs/Leah Williamson, Lindsey Horan/Emily Sonnett, Lucy Bronze/Dzsenifer Marozsan, Magdalena Eriksson/Pernille Harder, Mapi Leon/Original Character, Rachel Daly/Kristie Mewis, Vivianne Miedema/Lisa Evans
Comments: 11
Kudos: 95





	1. Chapter 1

Ding. Pernille grabs her phone to check the notification. Opening her email she sees that it’s from Kim Sanchez. What would the legendary former Lyon coach want with Pernille? 

Turning back to her iPad “Magda! I just got an email from Kim Sanchez.”

“Wait like Lyon Kim Sanchez? What does it say?” Magda responds clearly surprised. 

“I don’t know, I haven’t read it yet.”

“Well, what are you waiting for, go on and read it,” her girlfriend demands. 

Dear Pernille Harder, 

Yes, it is I, Kim Sanchez. You are probably wondering why I am emailing you as I retired from coaching five years ago, but the truth is I miss the game and I miss coaching. I have been given a grant to coach whatever players I want for one month. These players are hand-selected from all over the world. We would be in camp together for that month. Camp is located in my home of St. Louis, Missouri so I can be close to my family. All expenses are paid for and you would get paid $50,000 for participating. We are doing this because I think there is a lot to learn from other players that you might never get to play with or against. I feel as though there is a lot that coaches have yet to discover and this will help me in my path to uncover those secrets. I have selected you as well as 19 other players to participate in this camp if you chose so. Every coach has okayed their players to participate. The camp starts one week from today. If you wish to participate please respond to this email no later 10 pm eastern time tomorrow so we have enough time to arrange your flight. 

Sincerely, Kim Sanchez

“That’s an opportunity of a lifetime baby, you have to take it,” Magda rasps out pride and adoration shining in her eyes. 

“But I was supposed to see you in a couple of weeks and now I’d have to miss out on that time together.” A sad look crosses Pernille’s face at the thought of having to go longer without seeing her partner. 

Another ding is heard and Pernille checks her phone again only to realize it must not have been her phone that made the noise. 

A smile graces Magda’s face as she looks back up at the camera after checking whatever the notification she got. “What if I told you we could see each other one week from today in St. Louis Missouri? Wherever the heck that is.” 

“Wait, you got the email too?” 

“Yep just now.”

Pernille screams with joy and starts doing a happy dance that Magda can’t help but find herself swooning over. Once the Dane has calmed down and the initial excitement is over tears start to well up in the corner of her eyes. 

“Baby? Why are crying?” Magda says worry laced within her voice. 

“I’m just so proud of you. I see how hard you work every day and how you always strive to be the best. Now you are finally getting the recognition you deserve and I couldn’t be prouder.” 

“Aww, thanks P. But you know there are so many other defenders she could have picked over me. I was probably just a last choice kind of thing.” 

“Babe, you are never a last choice. You are one of the best defenders in the world and whether or not the world thinks that you will always be number one to me.”

“I love you so much. What did I ever do to deserve you?” the Swede softly speaks in her low raspy voice reserved for only her girlfriend.

“I love you too. See you in a week.” Pernille leaves with a kiss on the screen for her girlfriend and a huge smile that can’t seem to shake its way off her face. 

Meanwhile in Spain Mapi Leon has just gotten out of training and is ready to plop down on her couch while she waits for her girlfriend to come home for dinner. Training had been extra grueling because they were forced to run sprints at the end of practice, but Mapi wouldn’t have it any other way. Her legs shake with every step as she makes her way towards her car gripping onto the handle of the front door for support. Pulling open the door the defender collapses into the driver's seat. 

Mapi opens her phone for the first time in hours to send a text to her girlfriend asking what she would like for dinner, but an email catches Mapi’s eye distracting her before she even sends the text. What would Kim Sanchez want with her? Mapi curiously opens the email not knowing what to expect.

After thoroughly reading over the email Mapi quickly types out a response saying she would be more than happy to go. The defender is always looking for ways to improve her game and this seems like one of the best opportunities. Plus she has to go to show everyone else how great she is. 

Ariña walks through the door of the apartment she shares with her girlfriend Mapi and their two cats after a long day at the clinic. There was this one cat that was on the verge of dying and it pains Ariña when she sees patients like that. If it was up to her she would save all the animals in the world but that’s why she became a vet so she can try to save as many as possible. On the bright side, there was this family of kittens who came in that couldn’t stop pulling at her long brown curls and it was the cutest thing. 

“María!” she calls out looking for her tattooed girlfriend. A head groggily pokes its way up off the couch. “Hey babe, what did you make for dinner?” Ariña asks. 

Mapi shoots up very alert now, “Dinner? I totally forgot about dinner.” 

“Hey don’t worry about it we can just order in or something. I know you must have been tired after training.”

“Yeah, sorry. It’s just I got this email after training and then came home and fell asleep. But why don’t I take you out. Go put on a nice dress and we’ll go to that new upscale restaurant around the corner. It’s been a while since we have had a date night like this and we won’t get to have another one for a month.” 

“Babe, that new restaurant is so expensive you don’t have to take me there.” Ariña protests. “Also what do you mean we won’t get to have another one for a month. It’s not like you are going anywhere.” 

“Um, actually I am going somewhere. I got invited by Kim Sanchez to go to this one-month training camp in the States. I get paid and everything.” Mapi looks at the ground not meeting her girlfriend’s eyes hoping she’s not mad that Mapi didn’t talk it over with her first.

“OMG María I’m so happy for you! Isn’t Kim Sanchez that Scottish midfielder that you’ve played against.” Ariña pulls Mapi into her for a loving hug. 

“No that’s Kim Little sweetheart. Kim Sanchez is the former coach of Lyon and one of the best the game has seen, but I appreciate you trying.” Mapi says giving her girlfriend a sweet kiss before shooing her on her way to get ready for their date. 

At the Arsenal training grounds, Jordan Nobbs is in the locker room putting on her cleats when she sees that she has a new email from Kim Sanchez. Excitedly Jordan opens the email hoping it is good news. She smiles as she reads about the opportunity presented in front of her. 

“Did anyone else get an email from Kim Sanchez just now?” Jordan yells jumping up out of her seat. 

All the girls in the club turn to look at Jordan, confusion present on their faces. 

“What? I just got an email asking me to come to some camp in the States with 19 others from her. Leah, did you get one? Actually I know you got one because she would be stupid not to pick you.” Jordan rambles out. 

All the girls rush to check their emails hoping they got the same one. 

“Wait I got it,” Viv yells.

“Me too,” Caitlin replies. 

“You were right, Jord I got one as well,” Leah responds. 

“See I knew she would be too stupid to pass up on a player like you,” Jordan praises her girlfriend pulling her in for short kiss. 

“Ew guys we don’t want to see that in the locker room,” Lisa complains pretending to throw up in disgust. 

“It’s not like we don’t see you and Viv like that,” Beth calls out. 

“Well you and Daan are no better,” Lisa retorts.

“Ok everyone break it up. We have training to get to,” Kim yells over the noise. 

A collective “Sorry Mom,” is heard throughout the club as the group makes their way onto the pitch. 

The next day in Orlando Alex Morgan is curled up in Servando’s arms. It’s seven am and Alex has just woken up. The bright Florida sun is shining through the window in their bedroom forcing Alex to squint her eyes. Carefully Alex untangles herself from her husband trying not to wake him. While he has the luxury of an off day today she does not. She is met by her two large dogs as she exits the bedroom jumping at her legs ready for their breakfast. 

After feeding the dogs and making her usual breakfast of eggs and avocado toast. She is able to sit down and eat. After training yesterday Alex didn’t look at her phone at all so she has no idea what is waiting for her when she turns it on. There are some Instagram notifications, some texts in the national team group chat, and a snap from Kelley, but what interests her the most is an email from Kim Sanchez. 

When Alex was younger Kim was always trying to recruit Alex to play at Lyon. The superstar never took the coach up on her offer though as it was just never the right time and by the time it was Kim had already retired. It would be a dream to play under Kim though.  
A huge smile crosses Alex’s face as she reads the email. Now, this something she could get under. She wants to be the best in the world and the chance to train with the other best in the world is all she could hope for. With Kim Sanchez as the coach Alex just knew she had to be a part of it. 

Not even thinking about conversing with Servando Alex replies saying she’ll be there. She wishes it was someplace not quite as boring as St. Louis but she’ll live. Hopefully, there are still a few good places to shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just kind of had this idea to bring together a lot of my favorite players and couples and I have a lot more time on my hands than normal so I will hopefully be able to finish it. You will meet all the other characters in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Today is the day that everyone is arriving for camp. Mapi is the first to arrive and finds a sign that says St. Louis Elite Pro Football Camp which is the name that Kim Sanchez had told the players to look out for. 

“Hi, I’m Avery Torres. I’ll be your physio and the person you can go to for any of your needs as there is not a lot of staff at this camp,” A young blonde who couldn’t be any older than 30 introduces herself. “You must be María Leon.”

“It’s Mapi,” is all the tattooed defender says before taking a seat and shooting a text off to a probably worried Ariña letting her know that she arrived safely. 

The next to arrive are the five players from London as Magda was on the same flight as the Arsenal girls. Magda was already not looking forward to spending the next month with four Arsenal players. They all make their way over to Avery and Mapi sitting down as well, tired from their flights. 

Viv is quick to immerse herself in texting Lisa on her phone while Caitlin tries to annoy her. Leah rests her head on Jordan’s shoulder, her body falling in and out of sleep. Excited to finally see Pernille, Magda tries creating a conversation with Mapi to keep herself distracted but only gets short one-word answers out of the Spanish defender. 

A beautiful blonde with a warm smile arrives next. Jackie is quick to hug Viv and they both start catching up in Dutch as it has been a minute since the two last saw each other. Now that Caitlin doesn’t have Viv to annoy anymore she has pulled out her phone and is looking at Tik Toks probably sending them back and forth with Beth Mead back in England. Leah is full-on asleep at this point and Jordan is just staring lovingly at the girl on her shoulder. 

The other Aussie, Chloe Logarzo has now arrived and she is quick to pull Caitlin into a hug but not before introducing herself to the others. At this point, Magda has given up on trying to have a conversation with Mapi and is just people watching. 

The Lyon players are next to arrive and Lucy runs to Jordan and Leah, excited to see her best friends again with Dzsenifer Marozsan following close behind. Leah wakes up from her nap to give Lucy a welcome hug. Lucy makes sure that Maro feels included by introducing her Lyon to teammate to her national team ones. 

“Hey nice tattoos,” Maro shyly complements Mapi. 

“Oh, thanks,” Mapi mumbles before turning her attention back to her phone. 

The first round of NWSL players are the next to arrive. Rachel Daly, Kristie Mewis, and Jane Campell, all Houston Dash players, quickly introduce themselves before sitting down with the rest of the group. Rachel shares a quick hello with her England teammates before turning her attention back to her girlfriend who is asking for coffee. 

“Kelley O’Hara is in the house,” Kelley yells as soon as the sign comes into view. 

“Ugh I don’t like her even more than I already did,” Lucy whispers to Jordan. 

Kelley runs over to Jane and Kristie as she knows both of them from the national team quick to launch into a story about the person who would not stop kicking her seat on the flight. 

Alex Morgan and Emily Sonnett have barely stepped into view before Kelley is running and jumping on them. Lindsey Horan is not far behind pulling Alex, Kelley, and Jane into short hugs, and then pulling Sonnett in for a much longer one. Lindsey and Sonnett both grab Caitlin for a group hug and the trio catches up telling stories and bringing up old inside jokes which fill the airport with laughter. 

Alyssa Naeher filters in saying hello to her national team teammates before immersing herself in her book again. 

After what seems like forever for Magda, Pernille and Fridolina arrive. Not even caring that they are in the middle of the airport Magda jumps out of her seat running to greet her girlfriend in a sweet kiss. Both girls let out a sigh when their lips finally touch, melting into the arms of the other. 

“Ahem,” Fridolina clears her voice, breaking the kiss apart. “Aren’t you excited to see your best friend as well?”

“Great to see you too Frido,” Magda pulls her fellow Swede into a short hug. Magda grabs her girlfriend's bags for her and uses her free arm to rest on Pernille’s back, guiding her over to where the rest of the group are sitting. 

“Welcome all. It appears that everyone has arrived. I am Avery Torres, I will be your physio as well as your go-to person when you need something.”

“There is a bus waiting for us outside to take us to the hotel we will be living at for the next month. Once we arrive at the hotel you will be given your roommates. Then you may go to your room where you have one hour to unpack and get acquainted with your roommate before we all will meet for dinner. Every meal is provided and will be in a dining room provided for just us. Your room key should unlock your room as well as the dining room. If you have any questions at any point feel free to ask. My number is in one of the emails sent.” 

Once the bus has arrived at the hotel the players are ushered into the lobby. They are told to wait so Avery could get the list with room assignments. 

“Now I know that many of you are friends, teammates, and even partners with other players here, but we have decided to put you with someone you don’t know to help grow the group’s chemistry. So starting us off in room 111 we have Emily Sonnett and Mapi Leon.”

“Lindsey, why do I have to be with the scary one. Look at all those tattoos. She could be part of a gang,” Sonnett whispers in her friend's ear before collecting her key. 

“Next up in room 112 is Lindsey Horan and Dzsenifer Marozsan. In room 113 is Lucy Bronze and Kelley O’Hara.”

“Seriously out of everyone here it’s her,” Lucy quietly complains to her England teammates. 

“In room 114 we have Jane Campbell and Magdalena Eriksson. Room 115 we have Alyssa Naeher and Vivianne Miedema. In room 116 we have Pernille Harder and Alex Morgan. Jackie Groenen and Fridolina Rolfö will be in 117. 118 has Leah Williamson and Kristie Mewis. 119 is Chloe Logarzo and Jordan Nobbs. And last, but not least in 120 will be Rachel Daly and Caitlin Foord. Remember these are your rooms for the next month and dinner is in conference room three just down the hall at six sharp. Don’t be late.” 

All the players grab their bags and make their way towards their rooms. Magda has grabbed both her and Pernille’s wanting to walk her girlfriend to her room first before settling down in her own. 

‘Mags why do I have to be with her? Of all people? She’s so arrogant. She's probably going to be a huge bitch,” Pernille whispers to her girlfriend hoping Alex walking ahead with Kelley can’t hear her. 

“Baby don’t worry, I’m sure she’s very nice ok. You have to just give her a chance. Maybe she’ll surprise you. You know that if you need anything you can come to me. I’m just right across the hall,” Magda tries to reassure her girlfriend. 

The two have made it outside of the room Pernille shares with Alex and neither wants the other to go. Magda follows Pernille in, sets the Dane’s suitcases down, and gives a polite wave to Alex before turning her attention back to her girlfriend. 

Magda softly grabs Pernille’s face bringing their lips in for a gentle kiss. “I’m so happy you’re here. I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else.” 

“Me too. I love you,” Pernille says, all her worries melting away as she looks into her lover's shining green eyes. 

“Love you too.” With that Magda leaves with one last peck on Pernille’s lips. 

“Well, that was adorable. Seriously, you guys are such a cute couple. It makes me miss my husband,” Alex speaks up after witnessing the couple’s display of affection. 

A small smile makes its way across Pernille’s face as she thinks Alex might not be that bad. 

Over in Lindsey and Marozsan’s room, the blonde midfielder can’t seem to stop herself from freaking out. 

“You’re Dzs- dzsenifer Marozsan. Like the best midfielder to ever play the game,” Lindsey fumbles out jaw dropped. “I’m sorry but you are like my idol. I’ve always tried to model my game off yours. I just think you’re the coolest person ever and it’s an honor to be standing here with you.” 

“Thanks. You know you’re not so bad yourself. I’ve seen you play and you’re pretty good. Not quite as good as me but one day you will be.” Maro responds. 

“Oh my god! Dzsenifer freaking Marozsan just complimented me,” Lindsey squeals out grabbing her phone to inform all her friends. 

Sonnett is in the next room bouncing off the walls. “Hi, I’m Emily Sonnett. You can call me Sonny, Son, Em, Emily but most people just call me Sonnett. You’re from Spain, right? Wait I know you’re from Spain we just played against you at the She Believes Cup. Did getting a neck tattoo hurt? It must have hurt. Do you like pranks? Cause I love pranks. We should totally pull some on Lindsey. Lindsey’s my best friend you see and I love pranking her.”

Mapi just sits on her bed watching the whole scene in front of her unfold with a small smile on her face knowing this is what her life is going to be like for the next month. 

Fridolina and Jackie have already finished unpacking. The blonde duo could be twins just based on looks but after only spending a few minutes together it is clear that they could be twins based on personality as well.

“I love your hair.” Frido complements Jackie. 

“My hair? Have you seen your hair? Those highlights are perfect.” Jackie complements right back, breaking into a smile that could light up a room. 

The other pair of blondes, Kristie and Leah, are jumping right into a conversation. 

“So you’re Rachel’s girl. I knew she was dating her American teammate but I didn’t know that you were so stylish. We are going to have to go shopping while we are here,” Leah says taking in Kristie’s crop top and jeans look that she threw on this morning. 

“Oh for sure. I’m sure we can drag Alex into shopping with us too. We used to always go when I was still on the national team. Plus those girls Jackie and Fridolina, I think their names were, looked like they also had a good fashion sense.”

Speaking of Kristie, Rachel is acting all tough in the next room making sure Caitlin knows who not to mess with. 

“Hey just so you know Kristie is my girl and I love her. If you so as much look at her the wrong way there will be consequences. I know all about your reputation at Portland of fucking girls and leaving. So stay away from mine. You got it?” Rachel stares down Caitlin hoping her point has been made. 

“Hey! I know I had a reputation at Portland but I’m trying to change that ok. It’s not like yours was much better. I mean how many NWSL players have you slept with?” Caitlin retorts holding her ground. 

“Ok fair point. Just stay away from my girl and we’ll be good.” 

Viv starts shyly unpacking her stuff. She has never been that great at making new friends and normally Lisa is there to help her, but there is no Lisa right now. 

Both girls are unpacking in complete silence until Alyssa decides to break it “Hey I’m Alyssa. You know you are quite an impressive forward just don’t score too many on me ok.”

“You’re really good too. Quite impressive World Cup you had. Oh and I’m for sure going to score on you in practice.” Viv replies, her mood starting to rise. 

Nerves take over Viv again as she starts to unpack her backpack and she realizes that she needs to take Flip out. Flip is the teddy bear that Lisa got for her back in Bayern. Viv can barely sleep without him anymore, especially if Lisa’s not there. But her fear of being judged outweighs her need to unpack Flip right now and she decides that she will just leave him at the bottom of her backpack. He’ll still be in the room just not quite in bed with her, so maybe she will be fine and not need to take him out at all. 

“Hi, I’m Magdalena, but you can just call me Magda. I’m sorry but to be honest I haven’t really heard of you until now,” Magda politely introduces herself. 

“Not it’s fine I didn’t think you would have. Honestly, I don’t even know why I was invited. I’m only the US’s fourth-string keeper. But you’re a Swedish defender right?” Jane asks. 

“Yeah I am. Well if you’re a goalkeeper then I’m excited to work with you in the backline. I have a feeling we’ll do well together.” 

Over in Chloe and Jordan’s room. “Welcome back to the vlog. I have officially made it to St. Louis, Missouri. I didn’t get to see much on the drive to the hotel but it looks like a cool city. This is my roommate Jordan Nobbs. She plays for England and Arsenal. Say hi Jordan.” 

Jordan gives a little wave to the camera. “Hi guys, I’m Jordan. Great to meet you all.”

“Alright that is it for now as I have to unpack, but maybe later I will take you to dinner where you can meet the other players at camp,” Chloe says putting a hand in front of the lense. 

Loud shouts are heard from Lucy and Kelley’s room. It sounds like the two are having a fight. Kelley is standing on the bed closest to the window claiming her territory. 

“I always get the bed by the window,” the American defender shouts waving her hands around wildly. 

“Well I can’t sleep unless I get the bed by the window, so you’re going to have to give it up,” Lucy yells back, narrowing her eyes at Kelley. 

“I got here first so sucks to be you,” Kelley gloats, doing the ever famous tea-sipping celebration to show her dominance and victory. 

Slumping her shoulders and letting out a low growl, Lucy admits defeat and sets her belongings on the other bed. 

“All I do is win win win no matter what. Got money on my mind I can never get enough.” 

“Ok, you won! Can you stop singing?” Lucy blows up. Hands are flying everywhere gesturing wildly. The English defender is so annoyed at this point that she doesn’t hold back anymore. “Can you just stop existing? I’m tired of your fidgeting, singing, that fucking arrogant smirk, and don’t even get me started on your barely-there defending skills. I’ll see you at dinner.” With that Lucy storms out the room slamming the door shut behind her hoping to try and cool her temper down before dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any suggestions for the story or things you might like to see happen feel free to leave down in the comments. If something catches my eye I might just include it.


	3. Chapter 3

It has just hit six and all the players are filling in for dinner. There are four round tables that seat eight people each. The room is a beige color and the carpet is a darker brown. It could not look any more like a typical hotel conference room if it tried. There was a buffet set up but each of the food warmers has lids over them so the players can’t see what is available yet. 

“Everyone take a seat. Coach Kim has a few words she’d like to say before we go ahead and eat,” Avery calls out from the front of the room where a projector has been set up with a PowerPoint saying welcome on it. 

All the players organize into little cliques of people they already know. Alex, Kelley, Sonnett, Lindsey, Alyssa, Jane, Cait, and Chloe all take a seat at the middle table. Jordan, Leah, Lucy, Rachel, Viv, Maro, and Kristie all sit at the table on the left. On the right is Frido, Magda, Pernille, and Jackie, who is opting to sit with her new roommate instead of Viv. Mapi sits at the table in the back by herself giving a glare to the other players as if to say they shouldn’t dare try and sit with her. 

“Well now that you are all seated, welcome. As you all know I am Kim Sanchez, your coach for your time being. I am very excited that all of you agreed to be here. I can tell you are going to have a lot of fun and learn a lot. I just want to go over some basic schedules and rules to start us off. Training will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Wednesdays, we will have an hour-long gym session and an hour-long meeting in the morning. Then in the afternoon, we will have a team activity. In order to get the most out of this, you guys will have to learn to work together as a team. Sunday’s are your free days where you can do as you wish. I will not be here on Sundays it will just be Avery who is here 24/7. The daily training schedule will start with breakfast from 7:30-8 am. The first session of the day is from 9-11. Then we have a meeting or gym session from 11-12. Lunch is from 12-12:30. After lunch, you have an hour to recoup. And the second training session is from 1:30-3:30. I will leave every day around 4 to go home to my family except on Wednesdays because I am just as much a part of this team as you are. After 3:30 you are free to do whatever but dinner will be provided from 6-6:30 but it is not required that you attend. I bet all of you are wondering if there will be a curfew and the answer is no there is not. You are all professionals; I expect you to act as such. So welcome to St. Louis elite pro football camp. I hope you gain not only valuable knowledge and experience but also lifelong friendships. Now let’s eat!”

“Finally!” Kelley yells jumping up out of her seat racing Sonnett to see who gets to be the first in line. 

“So how have you been Viv? I haven’t seen you in forever. Are you and Lisa still going strong?” Kristie asks her former Bayern teammate once every has sat down after getting their food.

“Ha, are they still going strong? I don’t know what Viv and Lisa were like back when you knew them but now they can’t keep their hands off each other and they do everything together. Plus they are so sickeningly cute,” Leah chimes in, causing Viv to turn bright red. 

“Um, yeah Lisa and I are great as Leah said. But I see that you decided to give women a try.”

“Yeah. I never thought I would be with a woman but then Rach came into my life.” Kristie replies giving Rachel a sweet smile who returns it right back. 

“Rachel it’s so weird to see you without Millie. I feel like she’s going to pop up out of nowhere,” Lucy comments not used to seeing Rachel without her partner in crime. 

“I wish she would just pop out of nowhere because it’s been a bit since I last saw her but we text and facetime every day to keep the friendship alive.” 

Noticing Maro has been awfully quiet Lucy decides to take matters in her own hands so Maro feels more included. “Hey, guys this Dzenifer Marozsan for those of you that don’t know her. But you all should know her as she is the best midfielder in the world. No offense Jord you know I love you, but Maro is just that much better than you.”

“None taken. By the way, Lucy talks about you I would think you’d have to be a superhero or something.” 

“Thanks,” is all Maro can get out while trying and failing to keep her face from turning bright red with embarrassment.

Over at the table full of Americans and two Aussies, laughter could be heard throughout the room. 

“Alex, remember when you used the asparagus to make teeth that one time?” Sonnett yells out teasing her teammate. 

“Yes I do and it was embarrassing so don’t bring it up.” 

“Wait what happened?” Caitlin asks, wanting to be in on the joke. 

“I think I still have the video. Yes! Here it is,” Lindsey shouts out shoving her phone in Caitlin and Chloe’s faces. 

Both girls double over with laughter as they watch, making a scowl appear on Alex’s face. Lindsey’s phone starts to ring signaling a facetime call. Seeing that it’s Rose Lindsey quickly answers it. 

“Rosie! You know I’m at this camp, why are you calling? What if I had been in a meeting or something?” 

“I would have just called you back later. Besides, can’t I talk to my best friend?” 

“Sorry but my best friend is Mal so… But hey look your former teammate is here,” Lindsey says as she pans the camera to around the table to Chloe. 

“Chloe! It’s been a minute. How are you? I’ve been watching your vlogs by the way. They are pretty cool,” Rose exclaims. 

“Oh, thanks! I’m doing great. Super excited to be here.”

“Ok Rosie, Sonnet and I will call you back later. I still have to finish eating.”

While two of the tables are quite loud and boisterous, the other two are much quieter. Magda and Pernille are holding hands under the table always feeling the need to be touching each other even if it is only just holding hands. Magda is rubbing comforting circles on her girlfriend's hand and both look over at the other every few minutes just to check-in. 

“So Jackie, what’s it like playing for United? I am a huge United fan and it has always been a dream to play there,” Pernille asks the newcomer. 

“Honestly I never thought I would be playing for a club of its caliber. Casey the manager is one of the best I’ve ever played under and it’s a really good environment. We would love to have you play for us next season.” 

“Well I’m just exploring my options right now as I still have one season to go but once it gets closer to the new year I’ll look at teams closer, and I’ll have to see what offers I get.” 

“I’m sure you are going to get a lot of offers as any club would be ecstatic to get you.” 

“Thanks!” 

“Alright, guys now that everyone is done with dinner I have a fun little get to know you game as it is the first night and then you all are free to go.” 

The whole room groans at the mention of a get to know you game. “I’ll have you know it’s probably one you have never done before. Everyone is going to have five minutes to go through their Instagram and pick a photo that they think best describes them. After the five minutes are up we will go around and share our picture plus why it best describes you. Your five minutes start now,” Kim announces. 

It’s a mad dash for everyone to open their Instagrams and start searching. The sound of tapping and swiping on phone screens is resonating throughout the room. Some players have a concentrated face trying to find the perfect photo while others are just sitting there staring at their phone in boredom having already chosen the perfect photo. 

“Alright times up!” Kim yells, gaining all her players’ attention. “I’ll go first just to set an example. So here is a photo of my family. That’s me, my wife Sofia, and our sons Leo who is now seven and Jamie who is now five. The photo was taken at the hospital five years ago when Jamie was born. The reason why I chose this photo was that I knew at that moment that I made the right decision to retire and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. While I may miss the game I know I would have regretted missing out on so much of my sons’ life. Who wants to go next?”

“I’ll go,” Alex speaks up from her seat, flipping her phone around so everyone could see the photo. “This is the photo of me with my jersey that says 100 goals. I never thought that I would become a professional player let alone score 100 goals for my country and it was just a really special moment in my career so yeah that’s why I chose it.” 

Each person at Alex’s table goes and when it gets to Lindsey she pulls up a photo of her and Amandine Henry hugging from when the US played France in a friendly. 

“This is a photo of me and Amandine Henry. I chose this photo because while I love that my job has allowed me to play the game that I love I also love that it has brought me so many close friends from all over the world. And here’s to making many more at this camp,” Lindsey explains. 

It goes to Pernille next and the whole room lets out a chorus of awws as the Dane pulls up a photo of her Magda curled up on Pernille’s deck back in Wolfsburg while she explains that she wouldn’t have gotten to this point in her career if Magda wasn’t by her side. Magda makes room swoon again as she pulls up a photo of Pernille on the escalator on their first trip as a couple together. That trip to Barcelona was the moment that Magda knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with this girl. 

The last person to go was Mapi and reluctantly the Spanish defender pulled up a photo of her most recent tattoo explaining that she wanted to own her own tattoo shop after she retired. 

The team is now free to go and do whatever. It is only seven pm so most of the team isn’t ready to go to bed yet. Some players are opting to go back to their rooms and just chill out for a little bit while others are opting to hang out in the dining room. 

Chloe slips off to her room to facetime her girlfriend hoping she’s not interrupting dinner over on the west coast. To her delight, her girlfriend picks up on the third ring. 

“Hey bebe, how are you? How’s camp been so far?” Mckenzie asks, excited to finally see her girlfriends face after so many hours without it. 

“I’m a little tired from jet lag but other than that I’m doing ok. Everyone here at camp is so good though and I’m just average. How am I ever supposed to compete with these girls?”

“Don’t start doubting yourself. You deserve to be here just as much as any of these other players,” Mckenzie tries reassuring her girlfriend. 

“Kenny you’re my girlfriend so you have to say stuff like that besides Marozsan is here and she’s like the best midfielder in the whole world. Plus my roommate is Jordan Nobbs. I had to play against her when we played Arsenal and she schooled me the whole game.”

“Well Kim picked you for a reason and you are going to make the most of this opportunity,” Mckenzie looks at her girlfriend with pride shining in her eyes. Her gaze never leaves Chloe’s trying to convey her feelings through the phone. 

Meanwhile, all the Americans plus Rachel and Caitlin are just sitting around a table catching up. Old and new stories are being told. Laughs and smiles are all around. 

Magda and Pernille have opted to go to Pernille’s room. The pair has Netflix pulled up on the tv playing the new season of the German tv show Dark that they are currently obsessed with. Magda has her back against the headboard of the bed while Pernille sits in between Magda’s legs letting herself fall back against the Swede. Magda has wrapped her arms around Pernille’s waist pulling the forward into her not wanting to ever let go. Content to just sit there enjoying the other’s presence they share the occasional kiss but are careful to not let anything go too far as Alex could walk in at any second. Moments like these are ones that they don’t take for granted as there are not many. Alex comes back around ten knowing she needs enough sleep before training the next day. With that Magda leaves with a sweet and gentle kiss on Pernille’s lips and an I love you before heading off to her own room wishing she could hold the Dane in her arms through the night. 

Both Viv and her roommate Alyssa were tired from their days of travel so both were in bed with the lights out by 10 pm. Viv just stared at the ceiling unable to go back to sleep as every time she would fall asleep she would just wake up an hour later. Her mind keeps going back to Flip who is stuffed in the bottom of her backpack who would for sure bring her some comfort in this foreign hotel room. After much debating in her mind, Viv can’t take it anymore and decides that she will get Flip. Trying to make as little sound as possible, Viv tiptoes out of bed slowly unzipping her backpack and pulling out the light brown fuzzy bear from Lisa. Quietly she climbs back in bed pulling the bear into her and breathing in the comforting scent of Lisa which slowly lulls her to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. You can always leave comments with things you'd like to see happen and I'll take them into consideration.


	4. Chapter 4

Viv wakes up clutching Flip in her arms having held on to him for dear life last night. The sun is shining in through the window in her room while her phone alarm is blaring. Sleepily rolling over, Viv grabs her phone shutting off her loud alarm. When she rolls over she sees that the bed next to her is empty causing her to shoot up thinking she’s late. Looking at the time she sees that it’s only 6:45; right when she set her alarm for. 

Her phone starts buzzing again only this time it’s a facetime from Lisa instead of her alarm. Viv quickly answers it knowing her girlfriend will not stop calling until she does. 

“Hey cutie-” Lisa answers with her usual excitement but is quickly cut off with a gasp as she takes in her girlfriend's tired appearance. Viv has dark bags around her eyes. Her hair is all over the place signaling she rolled around a lot in her sleep. And while Viv doesn’t smile a lot she usually doesn’t have a frown quite like this one on her face. “Are you ok?” Lisa asks now worried. 

“I’m fine, just tired because I didn’t sleep well last night.” 

“You didn’t sleep well? Was Flip not enough? I can always send you one of my sweatshirts if you need something else,” Lisa rambles trying to come up with any possible way to help her girlfriend. Her happy tone from when she first answered is no longer there and Viv can hear the worry in her voice. 

Viv stares at the blanket on the bed for a minute not wanting to meet Lisa’s eyes. “Um, I didn’t exactly use Flip the whole night.”

“Viv, you know that he helps you sleep better. I know that you think having a stuffed animal might be a little embarrassing but everyone copes with missing home. I’m sure your roommate has some way she copes and I’m sure she won’t judge you. ” Lisa looks straight into the eyes of her girlfriend trying to show her support from London. “I also know that you are probably nervous about your first training session today so let me remind you that you are Vivianne Miedema. The best girlfriend, the best teammate, the best person, and the best goal scorer in the world. I love you and know you are going to kill it out there.” Adoration is poring through the screen as Lisa talks.

“I love you too,” Viv sighs out letting all of her worries wash away as a small blush makes its way onto her cheeks from all the compliments. 

“Ok now that you seem to be feeling better, I want to know all the tea,” Lisa chirps out in her Scottish accent, her previously excited mood returning with the push of a button. 

Viv sits there filling Lisa in with everything that has happened since she arrived, thankful for a sense of normalcy. 

A few rooms down Mapi Leon is also on facetime with her girlfriend. Ariña answers in her big white lab coat which Mapi thinks makes her look smarter. Only being able to slip out of her office for a few minutes, Ariña lets Mapi know that as much as she wants to stay here all day with Mapi she only has a little bit of time. 

“I just wanted to see my gorgeous girl before I started my day, and I miss you,” Mapi tells her girlfriend whose sun-kissed skin shines under the lights in the clinic. 

“Aww María, always the charmer.”

“Only for you mi amor,” Mapi says, sending her signature smirk and wink across the screen. 

The pair spend the next five minutes talking before Ariña’s next patient is here and she has to go. A small frown makes its way onto the Spanish defender’s face as she is sad to see her girlfriend go. Mapi always puts up such a tough facade but when she’s around Ariña she’s just a big softie. Reluctantly she hangs up the facetime call but not before saying I love you. 

Breakfast is buzzing with excitement as everyone can’t wait for training. The air in the room is electric as players joke around telling stories. People have still mostly stuck to their groups that they know though, no one wanting to venture too far out of their comfort zone. 

Kristie can’t remember being this ecstatic for a training session in a long time. She woke up feeling rejuvenated even though she should be tired from the long day of travel before and the fact that she had to sleep without Rachel. The strong smell of coffee hits her face as Rachel sets down a mug in front of her. Kristie turns to give her girlfriend a quick peck on her cheek to show her appreciation before turning back to her conversation with Leah. 

“You know I don’t think I have ever seen Rachel make someone else their coffee,” Lucy comments from across the table taking a sip of her coffee that she had just gotten a moment before. 

“You’re going to have to get used to it because she makes me my coffee every morning,” Kristie shoots back defending her girl knowing that she is the only one Rachel will ever make coffee for. Not even Millie, Rachel’s best friend, gets the pleasure of having Rachel make her coffee. 

The walk to the training pitch is only a few minutes long as Kim Sanchez had secured the group a field at the local MLS team’s practice facilities which are right by the hotel. Each player was given a badge to give them access to all of the facilities that the team offers so they can come and go to do extra training as they wish. 

The facilities are all brand new as the team was only started this year. The grass is a perfect green that shines under the hot St. Louis sun. It is a very humid day which is normal for St. Louis but for people who aren’t used to it they are quickly sweating. 

Jordan takes in the sight around her. Here she is standing on a football pitch in the middle of a city which is in the middle of the United States surrounded by the best players in the world. 

Glancing over at Leah, the pair share a smile as they know this is a dream for both of them and the fact that they get to do this together makes it even better. Jordan wishes at this moment that she could walk over and kiss Leah to show how proud of her she is but the only people here who know about their relationship are the other Arsenal girls and Lucy. Rachel doesn’t even know because Leah wanted as few people as possible to know so their secret didn’t get out. 

Training goes by in a blur for Alex as she hasn’t had this much fun at a training session in ages. Most of the training was spent just staring at Pernille because that girl could score from literally anywhere and Alex has no idea how she does it. It honestly makes Alex a little jealous to see that her roommate has the most perfect life on and off the pitch. First Pernille and her girlfriend are the world's most perfect couple and on top of that Pernille is perfect on the pitch. 

Sweat is dripping down Alex’s face as the team makes their way back to the hotel for a meeting, lunch, and a short break before their next session. She is thankful that Kim kept the meeting short just talking about some of what each practice is going to entail as well as going over a few new drills that she wants to try. Even though they just got off the pitch Alex already wants to get right back on so she can show that she can be better than Pernille. 

Once Lunch is over Leah goes straight back to her room to try and get a nap in before the next training. Back home in London Leah takes a nap every day. Not a long one or anything but just a short 30 minute one, so she’s glad that they get a break in between sessions so she can get one in. Sometimes Jordan will join her sweetly holding Leah in her arms while she sleeps but here that probably won’t happen as Leah still is apprehensive about people knowing they are dating. It’s not that Leah isn’t proud of Jordan and not happy in her relationship. It’s more that Leah has never publicly come out as gay or anything and she is worried about what people will say. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her head, Leah closes her eyes letting sleep overcome her. 

During their little break, Caitlin took the time to facetime Lia Walti back at Arsenal. While she was having a lot of fun with Lindsey and Sonnett here she missed Lia a lot more than she thought was possible. The two are just friends but some days Caitlin can’t help but think that they could be something more. Ever since the two spent time in Switzerland together, Caitlin couldn’t hold back the longing stares. She knows there’s no way Lia likes her though as Caitlin keeps a revolving door of girls to make sure that doesn’t happen. The girls fall into a conversation as if Caitlin is right there with Lia in London and this is just another everyday conversation. 

The second session of training was just as much fun as the first for Lindsey. She still couldn’t believe that she was getting to work alongside Marozsan who only exceeded Lindsey’s expectations. Throughout the practice, the older midfielder would point out little things Lindsey could change to improve her game and Lindsey was soaking them up making sure she didn’t miss a thing. 

Sonnett has been talking to Kelley throughout dinner and the pair agreed that they should suggest a team movie night in Kelley’s room. It would be the perfect way to get to know some of the other people at camp while not requiring any activity as everyone is exhausted from training. 

“Everyone listen up!” Kelley yells trying to get the group’s attention by standing on a chair. “Sonnett and I will be hosting a movie night in my room.”

“Ugh, this is why I hate her. She plans a movie night in our room without even conversing with me first like bitch this is my room too,” Lucy complains quietly to Jordan. 

“We think this is a great way to get to know the other players here as well as getting to enjoy a movie. I know you all are wondering what the movie is going to be and we have decided on Harry Potter because everyone knows it’s one of those movies you can watch over and over again,” Sonnett joins in. 

A majority of the group is nodding their heads in agreement all liking the sounds of this idea. Harry Potter is one of Viv’s favorite movies so she plans on going. Plus Lisa is probably already asleep and she doesn’t want to sit in her room by herself. She sees most of her Arsenal teammates plus Jackie is nodding along so Viv will at least know some people. 

“Lyss you have to come. I’m not going to let you sit in your room by yourself and just read a book. Come on you have to at least attempt to make new friends,” Alex says trying to convince Alyssa. “If you don’t show up I will come to your room and drag you there.” 

“Alright I’ll come, but I can’t promise I’ll stay long as you know how I like to go to sleep early.”

“Baby, do we have to go? Can’t we just hang out in one of our rooms? We don’t get to spend too much time together and I want some time just for us,” Magda complains while they are walking to Kelley and Lucy’s room for the movie. 

“We are already here and we have to make an effort to get to know the other players. Trust me I want some time for just us too. So we’ll go to this, you can hold me during the whole movie, and I promise that on Sunday you can have me to yourself all day. Ok?” 

“Fine,” Magda reluctantly agrees right as they enter the room. 

The couple finds themselves a spot on the floor where Magda can lean back against the foot of the bed allowing Pernille to slot in between her legs and settle comfortably in her lap. The short blonde’s head comes to rest gently on her girlfriend’s chest. Magda wraps her arms around her girl and gives her a sweet kiss on the forehead before turning her attention to the movie that was starting. 

On the bed, above them, Kelley, Alex, Sonnett, and Lindsey were all cramped together. Although Lindsey and Sonnett were a lot closer than the other two girls as Lindsey was using Sonnett’s shoulder as her headrest. Frido had opted to sit right next to Pernille and Magda on the floor also resting her back against the bed. The next bed had Maro, Lucy, Jordan, and Leah all in a similar position to the girls on the other bed. Alyssa was sitting on one of the chairs in the room and Jane was in the other one. Chloe, Caitlin, Jackie, and Viv are leaning against the foot of the other bed. Rachel and Kristie had opted to sit in between the two beds intertwining their hands. Even Mapi showed up but she just sat by herself in the corner. What the group doesn’t know is that it took a lot of convincing and a promise from her girlfriend to convince her to make an appearance. 

“It’s wingardium leviOsa, not levioSA,” Leah shouts out at that part of the movie having seen the first Harry Potter so many times she can almost quote the whole movie. She knows that it makes her look like a nerd but she also knows the whole Elvish language from Lord of the Rings so at this point she doesn’t care. 

While Lucy was annoyed by Kelley’s idea in the beginning she has to admit it wasn’t a bad idea. For instance, she never would have known Vivianne Miedema is such a Harry Potter nerd if this night never happened. It’s scary how much random knowledge the forward has about the series. 

Also, Lucy got to sit very close to Maro tonight so close that their thighs would lightly brush anytime one of them would move. The skin on skin contact made Lucy’s leg light on fire every time they touched. So far it felt great that Maro kind of hung around her. While they are good friends at Lyon, Maro has other friends on the team that she hangs out with as well, so she and Lucy don’t spend as much time together. If it was up to Lucy though they would spend every waking moment together. Ever since that day they became bus buddies last year Lucy is willing to admit she has developed a slight crush on the German midfielder. How could she not though? With that shy smile, her tattoos, those eyes that seem to stare right into her soul, and her laugh. Oh her laugh is one of the most beautiful things Lucy has ever heard and wishes she could hear that sound for the rest of her life. But Lucy is pretty sure Maro is straight so she’ll never like her back anyways. 

Everyone goes to bed with a smile on their face ready for the next day full of training thinking this might just be a great experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I hope you liked this chapter. I am having a little trouble coming up with ideas for what to write on training days so if there is anything you'd like to see on those days feel free to comment and I'll take your ideas into consideration. Thank you all for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

It’s now Wednesday and everyone is just waking up extremely sore from yesterday's grueling training. Sonnett can feel the soreness in her legs when she first steps out of bed. She is so glad that there is no training today as Sonnett doesn’t think that she could handle another training. They do have a gym session though but a one-hour gym session can’t be as bad as a training session. There is also a team-building activity and while most people don’t always particularly care for team building Sonnett rather likes team building. A lot of her favorite memories on the national team involve team building. 

Sonnett still hasn’t really talked to Mapi as the Spanish defender just acts all broody and doesn’t talk to anyone unless it has been for training stuff. All those tattoos and stuff are kind of scary but at the same time kind of cool. Sonnett imagines the neck tattoo must have hurt to get because Sonnett has a cross tattoo on the back of her neck and it hurt like a bitch, so she can’t even imagine how much it must have hurt to get one on the front.

Sonnett is sitting between Lindsey and Caitlin at the team meeting. Kim Sanchez is going over some set pieces she wants to try out later. Lindsey has been whispering in Sonnett’s ear all meeting cracking jokes causing Sonnett to almost break down in laughter, but she manages to hold it in only allowing for a dopey smile to make its way across her face. 

She hasn’t spent this much time with Lindsey since their last national team camp now that they both play for different teams. It pains Sonnett to know that Lindsey is all the way in Portland while she is in Orlando but the two make it work. Sonnett facetimes her at least three times a day which she knows might seem a little excessive but Sonnett doesn’t care. All she ever wants in life is to put that gorgeous smile on Lindsey’s face. If it was up to Sonnett she would never leave Lindsey’s side and they would grow old together having two or maybe three kids. That is never going to happen though because Lindsey is straight and has a boyfriend. While Sonnett doesn’t approve of her current boyfriend, she will always be there to pick up the pieces. Russell doesn’t treat Lindsey the way he should but it’s not like Sonnett can do anything about it. 

“Now I’m sure you are all wondering what activity we are doing today,” Kim announces causing Sonnett to tune back in. “Well, I will start off by saying we have decided to cancel the gym session scheduled for right after this as I know you all are very sore and we have a lot planned for today.” 

Loud cheers erupt from the room in celebration. Kelley even stands up and starts doing a little happy dance causing a few chuckles to be heard throughout the room. 

“Since we are in St. Louis and it’s an old city with a rich history we are going on a little city adventure. We are going to first go to the Arch this morning. After the Arch is lunch back here at the hotel. For the afternoon we are going on a scavenger hunt around the city. I have already created teams. You will get the list of clues after lunch as well as your metro pass so you can take the train to different locations. Everyone has fifteen minutes to go get ready before we head out.” 

Lucy stares out at the tall Arch in front of her. To be honest Lucy never knew it existed but it seemed like a pretty cool architectural feat. It can’t be very fun for someone who is afraid of heights though which luckily for Lucy she isn’t. 

Avery hands everyone their tickets after everyone is done taking photos outside and underneath the Arch. The group makes their way down a ramp to underneath it so they can go up. When the players get in they are given an hour to walk around the museum which explains the history of St. Louis, starting with the early French settlers. For Lucy, someone who is never really interested in history, it wasn’t that boring. She is just excited to go to the top as she imagines it has a beautiful view, but the group has to wait because Chloe has to read every little thing which Lucy finds a bit excessive but you do you. 

Now that Chloe is finished the group has made their way in line to go to the top. Curious about how they get up, Lucy soon finds out it is in a very small elevator. Hights, bugs, clowns most things that everyone else finds scary Lucy is fine with but small spaces are the worst. Each elevator is small and round with five seats. The group in front of Lucy only has four adults and they barely seem to fit so how are five muscular soccer players going to do it. This is honestly Lucy’s worst nightmare. She can already feel her hands becoming sweaty and nerves filling her stomach. The group is randomly ushered into the next set of elevators. The defender finds herself squished between the wall and Maro. Next to Maro is Kelley, who is next to Sonnett, and then across from Lucy is Alex. 

“Hey, Lucy are you ok?” Alex asks right as the elevator lurches signaling it is going up having noticed Lucy’s face is a bit pale. 

“U-um yeah I’m fine,” Lucy manages to stutter out trying to seem calm when in reality she was on the verge of a panic attack. Sweat is dripping down her face and her hands are shaking. It doesn’t get any better when Kelley starts moving around in the elevator being her usual loud self. Hands grip the sides of the chair causing her knuckles to turn white while her eyes are clenched shut. 

Lucy feels a warm hand brush against hers and starts running soothing circles over the back. The hand calms her down a little bit, so Lucy dares to open her eyes and see who is doing this. She sees the ever-familiar tan and intricately inked skin of Maro which causes a smile to break out. Glancing at the other girls in the elevator it seems as though they are too focused on Kelley to be paying attention to the two of them holding hands. 

The rest of the ride goes by smoothly as Lucy is too focused on the tingly feeling of Maro’s hand in hers to think about how small space is. 

The whole group gasps as they step off the elevator and are met with a beautiful view of the city. People are rushing to the windows to take photos but Maro stays back with Lucy as she takes her time recovering from the ride up. 

“Claustrophobic?” Maro asks her Lyon teammate. 

“Um, a little bit. Thanks for that by the way.”

“Hey, I was happy to help. No one should go through that alone.” 

After everyone has gotten their perfect photo the group makes their way to the down elevators. Maro takes Lucy’s hand in hers the moment they sit down and Lucy can’t help but think it might be the best feeling in the world. 

While the Arch is cool, Jane is most excited about the scavenger hunt because it feeds her competitiveness. The group is buzzing as they all sit in the meeting room waiting for Kim to announce the teams. Kelley and Sonnett are loudly joking around with Lindsey and Alex filming them and Jane can’t help but laugh at the sight in front of her. 

“Ahem,” Kim clears her throat trying to get the players' attention. “I will now announce the teams. When your name is called come up and collect your metro pass. Once every team has been called I will then pass out the clue sheets and then you are off. So the first team will be Alex, Maro, Sonnett, Jackie, Magda. Team two is Leah, Kelley, Pernille, Jane, and Viv.” 

“Team Two! Let’s fucking gooo!” Kelley yells jumping up to collect her pass and stand with her team. 

“Goodluck being stuck with her,” Lucy remarks to Leah sitting beside her. 

“Team three is Jordan, Lindsey, Chloe, Kristie, and Frido. Last but not least is Lucy, Rachel, Mapi, Caitlin, and Alyssa. The rules are that at least four of you have to be in the picture. You are allowed to use phones and the internet to help as I assume you will need it. Here are your clues. Now you may go.”

Jane’s team sprints out the door and stops right outside the hotel to convene and figure out where they should go first. 

“Ok clue 1 says St. Louis rap legend who sings Hot In Here,” Kelley reads out. 

Jane doesn’t even have to think about the answer. As an avid rap fan, especially rap from the 2000s, it comes to her right away. “Nelly!” 

“Ok, but are we supposed to find his house or something? Like how would that even work?” Leah asks, still a little salty that she has to be separated from Jordan. 

“I’m sure he has a star or a statue somewhere,” Jane replies trying to think of how in the world they are supposed to take a picture with Nelly. 

“Wait I know clue four! It’s Chuck Berry,” Pernille yells out cutting off Jane’s thoughts. 

“Who?” Kelley asks, clearly never having heard the name. 

“The inventor of rock and roll and his famous dance move called the duck walk. I listen to his music all the time. It’s cool that he’s from here,” Pernille replies. 

“It says here that he has a statue in a place called the Delmar Loop. It also looks like there are a bunch of famous people’s stars so I’m sure that must be where we can find Nelly as well.” 

“Ok we’ll head there first and figure out where everything else is on the way,” Kelley executively decides, making herself the leader of the group. 

Jane had to admit that she is pretty excited to see Nelly’s star as he is a rapper she has listened to for years. Dilemma was her jam back in the day. 

Viv had pulled up a map of the St. Louis public transport so they can figure out which stop they need to get off at. “So it looks like we need to get off at the stop that is Delmar Loop and we will get back on at the stop.”

The next group was struggling or at least Maro thought they were. She has no idea what any of these things could possibly be. Sonnett and Magda have taken over the leadership and are very determined to win. 

Maro is not happy about being separated from Lucy though. The English right-back has begun to take up much of the midfielder's thoughts and she was the only person here that Maro really was friends with. Sure she had played with Alex, but that was years ago and they haven’t really talked since except to say a few words when they have played against each other. Although this would be a good time to rekindle their friendship. Lucy has taken it upon herself to make Maro feel included and she really appreciates that. She also hasn’t forgotten about the moment at the Arch earlier which left her hand tingling and a warm feeling in her stomach. 

Their team has now gotten to the sports questions which only Alex and Sonnett are of any help as all the other players are internationals and know nothing about American sports. Maro had never heard of the World Series until there was a clue about the home of the eleven-time World Series champions. It’s kind of stupid to call it the World Series though as only American teams participate not the whole world. 

Their team has just arrived at Busch Stadium which as Maro has learned is the home to the Cardinals who are the eleven-time world series champions. The team takes a fast team photo in front of the stadium before rushing off to the next location, which is the home of the Blues. 

Frido’s group is doing pretty good; they all get along well. Everyone is working together although some members are a little more helpful than others as Frido doesn’t know the first thing about St. Louis. 

Right now their group is walking through Forest park trying to find the zoo and the science center. They had just come from the Muny which was the answer to the largest outdoor musical theater. 

Forest Park is a very confusing place to navigate around. There are so many different pathways and it is very large something the Swede is not used to. But Frido thinks that it would be a great place to spend her off days walking around, enjoying nature, maybe doing a bit of people watching or just sitting down in the grass enjoying a good book. It is quite hot here though so Frido is not sure how long she would want to stay outside. 

“Hey look, those look like animals. We must have found the zoo,” Lindsey yells getting the group’s attention.

“Ok, let's cross the road and take a picture in front of that sign, and then we will have to figure out where the science center is,” Jordan says leading everyone over to the sign that says St. Louis zoo. 

A huge smile like the sunshine makes its way across Frido’s face as the group takes the photo. Frido’s dimples are on full show showcasing the joy that she feels. So far this trip has been a lot of fun. Frido and her roommate Jackie have become quick friends and it’s been nice to spend some time with Magda and Pernille. It almost feels like they are back in Linköping eating meals together, and training together which Frido missed a little bit. One thing she doesn’t miss is their constant displays of affection. It seems as though the couple has gotten even more touchy-feely since Linköping which Frido didn’t think was possible. It makes Frido miss her boyfriend back in Sweden, but she knows that she will see him soon and they talk almost every day so it’s not too bad. 

Alyssa Naeher was in her element here. This was basically just trivia and being an avid fan of crosswords it really helped Alyssa to know most of these answers. The rest of the group was quite surprised to see Alyssa coming so out of her shell, but it is all due to the keeper’s drive to win and her extensive random knowledge. 

The group is on their way to their last location which fulfills the clue asking about a train station that is now home to an aquarium. Rachel and Caitlin have been mostly in charge of directions this whole time. As they walk Alyssa takes in the buildings of the new city around her. Sure she has been to St. Louis before but she has never seen it in this light.

“Ok I think the building should be in the next block or two,” Rachel announced to the group making sure they keep their eyes peeled for something that said Union Station. 

The next two blocks pass and there is no sign of the building. 

“Are you sure we went the right way?” Lucy asks Rachel. “We’ve been walking forever and still haven’t found it.”

Alyssa keeps her eyes peeled as they keep walking when all of a sudden she sees one of those blue signs that say Union Station this way. “Guys I found a sign that says it’s this way.” 

“How is it possibly that way?” Caitlin complains. 

“I don’t know you’re the one who gave me the directions saying we need to go this way. So now we are going to lose and it’s all your fault because we have been walking in the wrong direction for the past ten minutes,” Rachel angrily yells at Caitlin rolling her eyes. 

“My fault you agreed with me and said that it must only be a few blocks ahead, so you are just as at fault as I am.” 

“Ok, ok, it’s no one’s fault. We found all the others pretty fast so I think we can still win it.” Alyssa steps in trying to calm everyone down before the fight escalates. “But if we keep fighting there is no way we will win so let’s follow this sign and go.” 

The group takes off again following the sign which eventually leads them to the right place. Mapi volunteers to take the picture as she has for most of the photos and then the group is on their way rushing to get back to the hotel. 

Once they make it to the hotel they realize they are the first ones back surprisingly which causes Rachel, Caitlin, and Lucy to break out into a little celebratory dance. They make their way towards Kim, so she can verify that all their pictures are correct. That’s when Kelley’s group burst in the door. 

“Yes, we did it! First ones!” Kelley yells as she runs through the revolving door almost trampling Leah. 

“Sorry but you’re not the first one’s we are,” Lucy boasts, happy to have finally beat Kelley in something since they have been here. 

“But we don’t know if you got every place right.” 

“I just finished checking your photos and it looks like you won,” Kim tells the groups.

“Ha take that Kelley.”

Kelley slumps her shoulders and lets out a big sigh disappointed in her team’s loss. She sinks to the ground and shuts everyone out ready to be angry for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it took so long to update. I have just not had much motivation to write recently and have also been getting ready for school to start back up. As always thank you for reading and if you have any suggestions or any comments feel free to leave them.


	6. Chapter 6

The hotel phone rings throughout Lucy and Kelley’s room the next morning after breakfast. 

“Um, hello?” Lucy answers the phone confusion evident in her voice as the hotel phone doesn’t normally ring. 

“Is this Lucy Bronze speaking?” the operator replies. 

“Yes this is her.”

“Your package is waiting for pickup at the lobby desk when you are ready Ms. Bronze.”

“Thanks, I’ll be right down.”

“Who the hell was that?” Kelley asks as soon as Lucy hangs up. 

“Oh just the front desk letting me know my package is here,” the English defender replies as she walks out the room to go pick it up. 

“Hi, I’m Lucy Bronze here to pick up my package,” she says once she reaches the front desk. 

“Here you go, Ms. Bronze. Have a nice day,” the front desk operator says as she passes the Amazon box across the counter. 

“You too!” Lucy cheerily replies excited for what’s in the box. 

“So what’d you get?” Kelley asks right as Lucy makes her way back into the room. 

“Oh it’s just some frosties bars. I eat them all the time and I ran out of the ones that I brought so I needed more.” 

“What in the world are frosties bars? I have never heard of them,” Kelley says an offended tone to her voice. 

“These,” Lucy says holding up the blue package with the forever smiling orange tiger on them. 

“Ew, those must be so unhealthy. That must be why you have a little extra fat.”

“I’ll have you know I have a very nice six-pack that a lot of fans drool over.”

“They drool over mine more,” Kelley banters back with a smirk on her face.

Lucy lets out a loud huff and quickly grabs her stuff for training making sure she throws in a frosties bar for a snack not wanting to be around Kelley any longer. Slamming the door shut behind her, the defender makes her way to Jordan’s room to vent about how much she hates Kelley. 

Now that Lucy has left the room Kelley runs over to Lucy’s newly bought frosties bars taking just one and hiding it under her bed hoping Lucy will not find it. A chuckle escapes her lips as she finishes getting ready for training with a mischievous smile on her face. 

It’s towards the end of practice and the players are just playing some five on five. Alex and Maro are put in the same group for the first time this camp along with Mapi, Chloe, and Alyssa. The link-up play between the two of them has been exceptional. They can’t seem to stop scoring. 

Maro keeps playing the perfect passes that Alex can run in behind the other team's defense and score from. Alex can’t remember her balls being this good back at Lyon. 

Alex hasn’t really spoken to Maro since they have been here, and honestly, that’s kind of Alex’s fault. The American hasn’t really made any effort in trying to talk to her former teammate. She knows that Maro is a bit on the shy side and that she would have to be the one to approach her. It took the German a little bit to warm up to Alex at Lyon but once she did they became pretty good friends. It seems as though Maro hangs around Lucy a lot which would make sense as Lucy is her teammate at Lyon. 

“Alright guys that’s enough for today,” Kim announces motioning for the group to get in a circle. 

“Alex and Maro, I loved the link-up play from the two of you, keep it up,” Kim says as soon as the group has formed a circle. 

Alex turns to Maro who is standing next to her and pulls her in for a one-armed hug, “It was all due to this one’s amazing through balls.” 

Maro’s face turns red at the compliment as she ducks to try and avoid Alex’s hug. 

“So how’s it been?” Alex asks Maro, as the group makes their way back to the hotel to recover and chill until dinner. “I know obviously winning three more Champions Leagues since I was last your teammate must have been pretty great.” 

“Says the World Cup winner,” Maro jokes back, starting to feel a bit more comfortable. 

“True, true. But honestly, how’s it been? How’s your dog? He’s still as adorable as ever right?” Alex inquires following Maro towards her hotel room rather than going to her own. 

“Yeah he’s great, but I also got another dog, Cookie. She lives in Lyon with me.” 

“Another dog! When was this? I must see photos,” Alex squeals, always excited about dogs. 

Maro pulls out her phone to pull up a few photos of the newest member of her family as the duo follows Lindsey into Maro and Lindsey’s shared room. 

“Aww what a cute dog. I need to meet her sometime. You, me, and Seger in France. It’s a reunion that needs to happen. Plus I could meet your dog then,” Alex says moving to sit down in one of the chairs in the room. 

“I’m going to go see what Sonnett and Cait are up to so I’ll see you guys later,” Lindsey calls as she pulls open the hotel door. 

“Ok bye,” Alex yells back to her national team teammate. 

“Ok I’ve heard about your dog, but what else? How’s the family? How’s Lyon been? Found a special someone yet?” Alex presses trying to open Maro’s shell and keep the conversation flowing. 

Maro feels herself get hot at that last question and hopes her face isn’t red as she thinks it is. 

“Oooh, is the famous Dzsenifer Marozsan blushing?” Alex teases. “Who is it? Is it someone I know?” 

Maro turns even redder and nervously runs her hands through her hair. She elects to stay silent though hoping that her silence will convince Alex to drop the subject. But knowing Alex it will do no good as she is always meddling in people’s love lives. 

“Come on tell me who. I’m assuming it’s another player if I know her,” Alex impatiently whines. Upon getting no response Alex decides to start guessing. “Is it Sarah Bouhaddi? Or Amandine Henry? You have always been awfully close to the two of them.” 

Maro shakes her head back and forth in response. “No, those guys are just my best friends.” 

“Is it a national team teammate? Maybe the blonde one that is always your roommate. Popp?” Alex digs trying to get more information out of the German midfielder. 

“That’s not Popp, that’s Svenja Huth, and no way she’s like my sister,” Maro jokes back, feeling herself start to open up to Alex again. 

“Come on just tell me who it is,” Alex complains, her voice getting all high pitched and whiney. 

“Fine. It’s Lucy,” Maro sighs as a weight is lifted off her chest as she finally admits the feelings she has been holding inside of her for so long. 

“Wait Lucy... as is in Lucy Bronze?” Alex asks, her eyes widening in shock as she starts to put the pieces together. “How did I not see it sooner? We need to get the two of you together.”

“Um yeah. It’s Lucy Bronze,” Maro admits looking everywhere around the room but Alex. “But it’s not like she even likes me back anyways.” 

“Come on a blind person could see she likes you. The way she makes sure to include you in everything and make you feel comfortable. The longing glances when she thinks no one is looking. That girl is in love with you.” 

Maro just shakes her head in response and changes the subject hoping Alex will forget about her love life. 

Over in the meeting room, Caitlin is hanging out with Kelley, Sonnett, and Lindsey. Well supposed to be hanging with the three of them, it’s really just Kelley and her at this point. It started out as them all having fun, Sonnett and Kelley were being their usual crazy selves, but it soon turned into Sonnett and Lindsey only paying attention to the other. 

Lindsey has pulled her chair as close to Sonnett’s as possible and is leaning her head on Sonnett’s shoulder while watching whatever stupid video Sonnett has pulled up on her phone. Sonnett uses her hand not holding the phone to rest on the small of Lindey’s back. The pair look as if they have been made for this position. Whenever Sonnett lets out a laugh Lindsey’s head shifts so it’s no longer focused on the video but on Sonnett’s laugh. A huge smile is plastered across the midfielder’s face as she finds joy in Sonnett’s joy. The two are in their own little world and no one could disturb them. 

Caitlin is used to this behavior from the two of them. Back in Portland Caitlin would almost feel like a third wheel sometimes. Although most of the time Ellie, her fellow Portland Aussie, would be there to keep her company. 

“When are they going to get together?” Kelley whispers into Caitlin’s ear hoping the pair won’t hear her. 

“Wait you know too?” Caitlin responds having thought she was the only one who could see this. 

“Yeah Sonnett admitted to me a long time ago that she’s in love with Lindsey but doesn’t want to ruin anything by telling her.” 

“Wait, Lindsey admitted the same thing to me,” Caitlin replies with a gasp. 

“We have to get them together by the end of this.”

“Oh for sure.” 

Leah’s phone buzzes which tears away her focus from the accounting homework she is trying to get done. 

Jordan: Hey do you want to go for a walk?

Leah: Of course

Leah: I hope your short legs can keep up

Jordan: Hey!

Jordan: Met me in the lobby?

Leah: I’ll be right down

When Leah gets down to the lobby she sees Jordan in a white t-shirt with a black bomber jacket over top. She also has on black Nike sweatpants and white Air Force Ones. Jordan’s favorite silver barbed wire chain that Leah got her for Christmas one year sits around her neck. Damn, Leah is glad Jordan knows how to dress. Her girlfriend looks like she’s straight off a runway. 

“Why didn’t you tell me I was supposed to dress up?” Leah asks as she approaches Jordan. 

“You look gorgeous,” Jordan compliments letting her eyes rake over her girlfriend’s appearance. 

Leah looks down at the Arsenal training shorts with the number eight, a pair she stole from Jordan, and her Nike t-shirt “What do you mean? I look like shit.” 

“You could never look like shit. Plus you know how I feel when I see you wear my clothes. It’s honestly the hottest thing in the world,” Jordan praises her girlfriend meaning every word. 

Leah blushes as she remembers the last time she wore something of Jordan’s. Not wanting to let her thoughts continue to go to that dirty place, she shakes her head and starts to walk out of the hotel so they can begin their walk. 

Jordan immediately laces their hands together which shoots tingles up Leah’s arm. Leah tries to retract her hand from Jordan’s grasp but stops when she sees the disappointment on Jordan’s face. 

“No one here knows who we are. Please,” Jordan says desperation evident in her voice. 

Leah looks to her left, looks to her right, looks behind her, and when she’s sure no one is looking she leans in taking Jordan’s face in her hands. Quickly she plants a peck on Jordan’s lips and although it’s short it has its intended effect. A huge smile forms on Jordan’s face when she pulls away. Leah can’t help herself from looking around again to make sure no one saw or if they did they didn’t take a photo. 

Leah realizes this is the first time they have truly kissed in public. Sure they have kissed in front of the other Arsenal girls or family, but those have only been in private. She’s not quite sure how she feels about it. On one hand, seeing the joy the simple kiss brought to Jordan makes Leah want to do it all the time, but at the same time what are people going to say when they find out. What about homophobic comments? What about the fans? Thoughts start to overwhelm Leah’s mind causing her to shut her eyes. Wiping her now clammy palms on her pants, Leah tries everything to make the thoughts go away. 

All of a sudden Leah’s eyes shoot open when she feels the warmth of Jordan’s hand in hers. “Let’s just enjoy this time together ok,” Jordan says trying to ease Leah’s mind. 

Shaking her head yes in response, Leah intertwines their fingers together. The pair then set off down the street not caring where the road takes them. 

It’s almost 10 pm and most rooms are headed to bed. Viv has been sleeping a little better as she hasn’t dared sleep without Flip since that first night. Alyssa either hasn’t noticed or hasn’t seemed to mind. Alyssa wakes up and is always long gone from the room before Viv has even opened her eyes. 

The roommates have both gotten in their pajamas for the night. Alyssa sleeps in an old t-shirt and shorts where Viv prefers the more traditional pajamas look. 

Viv has climbed into bed and is reading her book when Alyssa calls out “Are you ok if I go ahead and turn off the lights?” 

“Yeah sure I was about to go to bed anyway,” Viv replies, making sure to mark her page in her book. “Wait, before you turn out the lights I have a question. Where do you go every morning?” 

“Oh, I get up early to do my crossword. You’re welcome to join me tomorrow,” Alyssa kindly offers. 

Viv ponders for a moment. Mornings are usually when she facetimes Lisa back home. Plus she’s not even sure if she likes crossword puzzles. They are those puzzle things right? It couldn’t hurt though as it would be a good way to make new friends. Finally making up her mind, “Sure. I’d love to join.” 

It’s six the next morning and Viv wakes up at the same time as Alyssa. The pair throw on some clothes and make their way down to the meeting room where the coffee is just being started. Alyssa pulls out her laptop and opens up her New York Times crossword app. 

“Ok, 1 across is a singer who wrote album folklore and it’s five letters. Ok so Taylor Swift wrote folklore but both are five letters so I guess we’ll have to wait and see which one it is,” Alyssa says starting them off. 

“Ok, I think I get how this works. You basically just answer the question or fill in the blank and all the words will fit on this sheet,” Viv questions making sure she fully understands as crosswords are not common in the Netherlands. 

Quickly filling in one answer after another, the pair make a great team. Alyssa is thoroughly surprised at how quickly Viv caught on. The first batch of morning coffee has just finished brewing and Viv is kind enough to make both of them a cup. 

“Thank you,” Alyssa replies as Viv sets the steaming hot mug of a wake-up call in front of her. 

“Brring, Brring,” rings out just as Viv is about to take her first sip. Recognizing her ringtone Viv picks up her phone to see who is calling. Upon seeing who it is, Viv realizes that she forgot to tell Lisa that she shouldn’t call this morning. 

“Sorry, it’s my girlfriend. We normally facetime at this time of the morning. I’ll just go answer her real quick and then come back,” Viv shyly mumbles out not wanting to be of any inconvenience to the goalkeeper.

“It’s fine. You can just answer it here. I don’t mind.”

“She’ll probably insist on meeting you though. She’s pretty crazy I must warn you,” Viv says hoping Alyssa will drop it. 

“Please, I’m a member of the US Women’s National Team. I can handle crazy.” 

Realizing there’s no point in trying to get out of it Viv answers the facetime right there. “Hi, Lisa.” 

“Hi, babe. I miss you. Wait, where are you? That backdrop is clearly not your room.” Lisa chirpily asks her voice moving at a mile a minute in her usual Scottish accent. 

Viv blushes at the use of babe before replying “Um, I’m in the dining slash chill area. I’m helping Alyssa with her crossword.” 

“Does this mean that Alyssa is there?” Lisa eagerly asks. “Can I meet her?” 

Alyssa peers over to make herself appear in Viv's camera. “Hi I’m Alyssa,” she says with a little wave. “You must be Lisa.” 

“Yep, I’m the one and only Lisa Evans, Arsenal and Scotland extraordinaire.” 

This causes Alyssa to let out a little chuckle at Lisa’s antics while she settles herself into a more comfortable position in her chair. “I see where Viv got her accent.” 

Lisa laughs “Yeah, I feel as though I turn her more into a Scott each day.” 

Viv can’t help her face from turning beet red as they talk about her. Never being one to like attention Viv tries to sink down in her chair as much as possible. 

Lisa being Lisa of course notices. “Viv don’t be embarrassed. I rather find your combination Dutch and Scottish accent cute.”

This only causes Viv to blush more. Lisa launches into some story about what happened at Arsenal training yesterday which involved Kim Little keeping Katie McCabe and Beth Mead out of trouble. The more and more Lisa talks the more and more Viv seems to relax. Lisa reminds her of home and comfort which brings out the best in her. Alyssa has since gone back to work on her crossword leaving the couple to catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update. I have had at least one exam about every week for the past four weeks. And I just didn't have any motivation. I have since found some new motivation so hopefully, there won't be so much time in-between chapters next time. As always feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Also Pernille Harder is UEFA player of the year for the second time and I couldn't be happier. And Marozsan finally winning an award made me so happy.


	7. Chapter 7

Warm lips brush against Pernille’s forehead causing her eyes to flutter letting some of the bright morning sunlight to filter in between the lids. Groaning “let me sleep,” she rolls over burying her face into the pillow. More soft kisses are placed along her cheek before a final one is delicately placed upon her lips. Slowly, Pernille responds kissing back allowing herself to be woken up this time. Upon opening her eyes she sees the familiar olive-green eyes of Magda staring down at her with a cheerful smile on her face. 

“How’d you even get in here?” Pernille groggily asks, rubbing her eyes. 

“Alex let me in,” Magda responds, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. 

Pernille grabs Magda’s waist and pulls her down so she’s lying on the bed. A squeal escapes the taller girl's mouth as her body falls into the mattress, “What was that for?”

Pernille just cuddles up to the body next to her, “You’re warm.” She lies her head on Magda’s chest breathing in the sweet scent of her lover. 

“I know, but we need to get going,” the Swede replies pulling Pernille tighter into her. 

“But I don’t want to get up yet,” the Dane complains. 

Magda turns her head to leave a sweet kiss on Pernille’s forehead, “I know you don’t but we have plans at ten. Here, I brought you breakfast.” She pulls out of Pernille’s grasp and gets the bowl of oatmeal and fruit she picked up from breakfast this morning. 

Pernille is now sitting up on her bed having moved over and patting the now empty spot next to her signaling for Magda to take a seat beside her. Quickly, Pernille gives Magda a kiss when she sits down to show her appreciation before digging into her oatmeal. 

“What am I even supposed to wear today?” Pernille asks having been given no information about what the day is going to entail. 

“You’ll see when you get there.”

“But then how am I supposed to know what to wear,” Pernille complains. 

“I already picked it out for you,” Magda says pointing to the outfit on a chair that Pernille hadn’t noticed until now. 

Black golf shorts, a white polo, and a black golf hat had been laid out causing Pernile to ask, “We’re going golfing aren’t we?” 

“What? How’d you know?” Magda gasps. 

“Babe, it’s pretty obvious by the outfit you picked out.” 

Magda pouts at the fact that Pernille knows part of the secret now, but at least some of the date can still be a surprise. Turning her head, Pernille leans in to kiss the pout away. Happily, Magda kisses back. This time she gives into Pernille and allows the kiss to deepen. Her hands wrap around her girlfriend's waist pulling her in as close as possible. 

“Ok we really have to get going now,” Magda says in between breaths forcing herself to pull away from those addicting lips. 

Fully ready to golf the pair make their way out of the hotel room. Magda grabs Pernille’s hand intertwining their fingers together. 

“Where even is this golf course?” Pernille asks, not remembering one nearby.

“Remember Forest Park where we went for a lot of the scavenger hunt clues, they have a course,” Magda responds, lightly swinging their joined hands as they walk. 

Pernille can’t help but admire Magda’s outfit choice today. Khaki golf shorts paired with a navy button-up looks very attractive on her girlfriend. Her signature smirk that Pernille loves is plastered across her face. The smirk as Pernille has learned is her “this is my girlfriend” smirk. Lightly, the blonde hair that Pernille loves to comfortingly run her hands through blows in the wind. 

“What was that for?” Magda asks after Pernille placed a quick kiss on her cheek. Where Pernille had just kissed is left with a tingling feeling causing love to jump from her heart. 

“You just look so good. Ugh, button-ups really do something for you,” Pernille responds letting her eyes rake up and down her girlfriend's body for the millionth time today. 

“Thanks, babe!” Magda exclaims, gripping the Dane’s hand tighter and giving her a soft look that could melt even the coldest of hearts. 

The couple walks the rest of the way in silence just enjoying the presence of the other occasionally stopping to admire a building but never letting go of their hands. It’s not often they get to spend time like this together and both want to make the most of every moment. 

It gets more crowded as they reach the clubhouse of the golf course. The park wasn’t too busy yet as it was only 10 am but there were quite a few people out for a morning jog or walk. The golf course is quite packed with all the older men wanting to get their Sunday golf in. Reluctantly Magda lets go of Pernille’s hand so she can go into the clubhouse and get everything sorted out. 

Pernille has only been standing outside for a few minutes before Magda comes out carrying a golf bag, a scorecard, and a bucket of balls. 

“I got us some balls so we can take some practice swings at the driving range and get used to these clubs,” Magda announces as she leads them over to where the driving range is. 

Pernille grips the big driver for the first time that day getting a feel for it. The club is a little heavier than her driver at home but she can make it work. Stepping away from the tee she takes a few practice swings trying to judge how the club moves.  
While it is not her club from home it still brings back all the good memories that come with golfing. Taking a moment she lets the happy memories wash over her in waves. The first time they went golfing they were just friends who were looking to try something different. Frido had come with them and they just spent the afternoon trying to learn the basics. Pernille can hear the laughter from the failed swings as if it was yesterday. The next memory is the one from when they went vacationing in Sri Lanka with Frido and her boyfriend and the four of them went golfing. That was such a good memory as it was the first time they did an official course. The most recent golf memory that Pernille has is from last season when Pernille had a week off right before the season started and they went golfing in London. All these memories fill her heart with joy causing a big smile to cross her face. 

“Thank you,” Pernille says to Magda who is very focused on her swing. 

“What for?” Magda asks, turning around to face her girlfriend clearly confused. 

“For today, for every day. Being here brought back a lot of good golf memories and I can’t wait to make more,” Pernille lovingly says. 

“Me either,” Magda says softly making her usual rasp more noticeable while staring directly into Pernille’s eyes trying to convey her emotions. 

Magda turns back around and puts her focus back on hitting the golf balls. Pernille takes a moment to admire her girlfriend’s muscles as they flex when she swings. The Dane’s focus then shifts back to herself as she goes to hit the ball with a crack for the first time this morning. 

The pair have now moved from the driving range to the course ready to take on the challenge. Wind lightly blows over the course becoming a factor they will have to take into consideration when swinging, but other than that the conditions are pretty good. 

“Ok, who’s going first?” Magda asks as they reach the tee off of the first hole. 

“You should go first,” Pernille replies. 

“No, you go first,” Magda counters back, not wanting to go first for fear of messing up on the first swing of the game. 

“Fine, I’ll go first because I’m going to beat you anyways,” Pernille boasts, her cocky side starting to show. 

“I highly doubt that,” Magda scoffs, moving out of the way of the tee so Pernille could tee off. 

Crack! A perfect first hit for Pernille lands somewhere right before the golf cart road that cuts through the course. It went perfectly in the direction that she wanted it to. Unlike Pernille who takes a lot of time to set up the angle of her shot Magda just goes up there and hits it. Magda groans in frustration as she watches her ball go further than Pernille’s but land in the trees on the side of the course. 

Since Pernille is further away from the hole she gets to go next. She pulls out a wood from the golf bag knowing that she needs to go further than an iron will allow for. Her next hit is perfectly placed again landing on the square of green right before the green that has the hole. She does a little victory dance which Magda finds absolutely adorable but it also makes Magda angrier at the same time. 

Searching through the trees, the pair finally find Magda’s ball. Magda is close enough that she can use an iron to get it out of the trees. Her hit is not well placed and has too much power on it causing the ball to sail over the green and onto the rough on the other side of the hole. Since it’s only the first hole Magda has to remind herself to calm down as she doesn’t want to ruin the game quite yet. 

Magda is still further away from the hole so she gets to go again. This time she must have a bit of luck because her ball lands on the green not that far from the hole. She could probably putt it in next turn and make it in par. 

Now that Pernille is the one further away from the hole she takes her turn using a wedge. Her face falls as she hits it a little too hard causing the ball to land behind that hole but still closer to the hole than Magda is. 

Magda would need a really impressive putt to get the ball in. Magda takes a little more time to set up her shot this time, but alas it goes wide and stops short of the hole meaning she can’t get it in par anymore. 

Pernille could still get it in on par though. Taking extra long to set up her shot, she makes sure the angle is absolutely perfect. She even takes a few practice swings to make sure she is going to hit it with the right amount of force. Letting out a loud sigh, Magda signals to Pernille to just get on with her shot already. The Dane finally takes her shot and the outcome causes her to do a little fist pump. The ball perfectly rolled into the hole leaving a scowl on the Swede’s face. 

“Ha, par, look at that,” Pernille brags knowing it’s riling her girlfriend up. 

Magda lets out a groan in response and goes to take her shot. Not having the patience like Pernille to take the time to perfectly line her shot up she just kind of takes a swing hoping the ball goes in. Much to her surprise, it doesn’t, just missing the hole by a few inches. This time though the ball is too close to the hole for Magda to not miss and she makes it in only two over par. 

An hour and a half have passed and the duo has almost finished the course. Magda has not gotten par on any hole so far and her patience is now hanging on by a thread. They set up for tee off and Magda tees off first this time. Thwack! Magda totally botches this hit and the ball only rolls a few feet away from the tee. Throwing the driver on the ground, Magda can no longer hold back her anger. She lets out a frustrated noise that kind of sounds like someone is dying. 

“How are you so good at this? It’s not fair,” Magda complains, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. She angrily starts to storm away from the tee. Muttering under her breath about how Pernille must be cheating or something. 

Pernille is used to this behavior as she can be the same way, but not quite as bad as Magda. Not letting this affect her, she calmly walks up to the tee slowly placing her ball on it and taking her time to make her swing. The ball flies through the air landing exactly where she wanted it. 

This only angers Magda more. “Ah fuck you,” she yells out. At this point, Magda is seething and doing her best to not just walk away from the game. Since her ball went relatively nowhere it’s her turn to swing again. She takes an anger-filled whack at the ball which takes up quite a bit of grass with it. The hit wasn’t that bad but it was in no way going to help Magda catch up to her girlfriend. Magda just starts walking off towards Pernille’s ball for the next swing leaving Pernille to fix the grassless patch that Magda had left behind. 

Magda now sees an opportunity to mess with Pernille and hopefully throw her off her game. Quietly, Magda approaches her girlfriend who is taking her sweet time setting up her next swing. She quickly wraps her arms around Pernille’s waist pulling her girlfriend flush against her chest. Magda can feel Pernillle’s heart rate jump at the sudden intimate contact. She leaves a hot yet short kiss right behind the Dane's ear in one of her most sensitive spots before quickly pulling away leaving her girlfriend in a confused and flustered mess. Having no concentration, Pernille attempts a swing but ends up totally missing the ball. 

Magda leans in and drops her voice so it is nice and low making it extra raspy “I win.” 

This causes Pernille’s cheeks to turn bright red and her mind to go completely blank. Magda takes a moment to admire her work, feeling very pleased that she managed to make Pernille this flustered. Her anger has fully dissipated at this point and from this point on Magda is going to make it her mission to mess with Pernille for the rest of this last hole. 

Back at the hotel, Maro has just pulled out her PlayStation to hook it up to the tv so she can play Fifa for the rest of the afternoon. Other girls were hanging out and stuff but Maro didn’t really feel comfortable trying to engage in conversation with them. Sure they were all nice but Maro just didn’t like to talk that much. She has been playing Fifa since she was a child and she used to play with her older brother. Fifa is what she always does in her downtime. Every camp she goes to the PlayStation comes along. Normally if it’s with Germany then her and Svenja Huth play or if it’s with Lyon her and Amandine Henry play. Sometimes Lucy will play for a few games but it’s never really been their thing. Lucy had come by earlier to see if Maro wanted to hang out with her, Jordan, and Leah, but Maro has been feeling a little homesick and Fifa helps to bring those feelings of home back. 

“EA sports it’s in the game,” rings out from the tv at the same time that a knock is heard from the door. 

Confused Maro goes to see who could possibly be at the door. Maybe Lindsey forgot her key or something. Opening it she finds a smiling Jordan Nobbs on the other end. 

“Ello, Lucy mentioned you were setting up Fifa and I was wondering if maybe I could play with you,” Jordan who normally sounds so confident says with a bit of stutter in her voice. 

“Um, yeah sure,” Maro replies shocked by the whole situation. “Well here’s a controller, and you can sit anywhere, Lindsey won’t mind.” 

“Thanks!” Jordan says her bright bubbly tone coming back now that she’s gotten over the initial nervousness. When Lucy brought up the idea of Jordan offering to play Fifa with Maro Jordan wasn’t quite sure about it, but Jordan would do anything for her best friend, and if Maro’s important to Lucy then Maro is important to Jordan as well. Lucy mentioned that it takes Maro a bit to warm to people, but when she does she’s everyone’s favorite person to be around. Jordan likes to play Fifa and she wants to make Maro feel a bit more like a part of the group, so here she is. 

Maro picks her usual Real Madrid, while Jordan picks her forever home in Arsenal. The first two games are quiet as neither knows what to say, but by the third game, there is a little banter being thrown back and forth between the two players. Jordan is determined to get her first win, as Maro is so good that she smoked Jordan in the first two games. 

“You are going down this time. I’m calling an Aubameyang hat trick this game,” Jordan boasts really getting into it. 

“I think not,” Maro scoffs, pressing play to get the third game started. 

Shouting, loud noises that one can only assume is a controller being thrown, and laughter can all be heard from Maro and Lindsey’s room down the corridor for the rest of the afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally sat down and spent a good chunk of time writing so I was able to get this chapter finished. I hope you loved all of the cute hardersson as it's my favorite to write. As always feel free to leave comments and I hope you enjoyed it.


	8. Author's note

I'm very sorry but I don't feel as I can continue to write this story anymore. There are too many players that are in this story that I no longer wish to write about. If you wish to know what happens to all the players I could post a little chapter that explains what happens to each player because I mapped all that out before I started writing. I will continue to write one-shots and post them to my one-shot series. If I ever get a new great story idea that I feel motivated to write then I will, but for now, I will just write one-shots which are also a lot easier to keep up with. Feel free to comment any questions. I hope you all are doing ok, and I wish you well. Thanks all for reading.


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